BLM'S CULTURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

The objectives of the BLM's cultural resources program are to discover and preserve these sites and artifacts for scientific, cultural, educational and religious use by present and future generations. The program includes inventory, protection and stabilization, and interpretation of these pieces of the past.

The inventory task on 49 million acres is almost overwhelming. About three percent of these lands has been inventoried. Because of the large amount of land and the limited public funds available, the BLM concentrates its efforts on areas with known cultural values or areas proposed for projects that are likely to disturb the ground surface and thus damage cultural sites. Protection and stabilization work is done on sites that are in danger of deterioration or that pose a threat to public safety. Interpretation efforts include posting signs explaining sites, publication of study findings, and establishment of interpretive areas such as the Grimes Point Petroglyph Study area near Fallon.

All this work is accomplished in cooperation with many other public and private agencies and institutions. The BLM works closely with the State of Nevada Historic Preservation Officer as well as the Nevada State Museum, which catalogs and stores artifacts removed from the public lands. Other agencies involved include the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Reno; the Nevada Historical Society; the Desert Research Institute; The Nevada State Museum in Carson City and Las Vegas; and local museums in Elko, Ely, Tonopah, and Winnemucca. The BLM also often contracts with private cultural research firms to perform inventories and excavations of public land cultural resources.